Revision as of 08:27, 12 May 2008

Colleagues, below you will find background information and suggested talking points on Senate bill 2321, the E-Government Reauthorization Act of 2007. This bill will amend the E-Government Act of 2002 to reauthorize appropriations, make information on federal agency websites easier to find, and strengthen privacy protections for citizens who use e-government.

Talking Points

The E-Government Act of 2002 took a great step forward to providing comprehensive government information to American citizens. The E-Government Act of 2007 builds on the earlier law and contains key amendments to the 2002 law that will increase accessibility to federal agency websites and will strengthen the protection of citizens’ private information as related to new information technologies.

By asking the Office of Management and Budget to provide guidance and best practices for search engine crawler accessibility of federal agency websites, citizens will have better access to government information.

Privacy Impact Assessments (PIA) were included in the 2002 law to increase transparency in how the federal government collects, manages, and uses an individual’s personal data. Implementation of the PIAs has varied from agency to agency, with most providing minimal information to citizens on risk assessment and potential threats to their private information, as well as detailing ways to mitigate these threats.

The amendments in S. 2321 instruct the Office of Management and Budget to provide best practice guidelines for all federal agencies in creating PIAs so consistent and quality information about
agencies’ uses of private information is provided to the public.

Key features of the S.232:

The E-Government Reauthorization Act of 2007 contains four sections:
• Reauthorization of appropriations established by the E-Government Act of 2002 (Public Law 107-347) by extending support through 2012,
• The establishment by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) of best practices for federal agencies creating Privacy Impact Assessments,
• The providing of guidance and best practices by OMB for improving the searchability of government documents on the World Wide Web, with provision for agencies to report back to OMB on compliance with this law, and
• The establishment of an annual report by OMB to Congress on progress regarding the above issues.
Legislative Background:

The Government Documents Round Table of the American Library Association urges you to contact your senators and urge them to sign on as co-sponsors of S. 2321, the E-Government Reauthorization Act of 2007, or thank them for co-sponsoring.

Feel free to personalize this text with your own words. Our message to our representatives is strongest when we share our stories of the importance of government information to our users and their constituents.

Dear Senator _________,

I am writing to urge you to support the E-Government Reauthorization Act of 2007 (S. 2321). By requesting the Office of Management and Budget to provide guidance and best practices for search engine crawler accessibility of federal agency websites, this legislation will ensure that citizens will have better access to government information.

Congress must also support the myriad ways that libraries have become E-government service centers as more government information has migrated to electronic-only formats. As a librarian who works with government information to serve my library’s users, I have direct experience with the important roles that libraries already serve in providing E-government services. As libraries assume expanding duties as the primary front-line providers of online government data, forms, reports, and even emergency services in times of disaster, we need financial support to provide training, technology (including broadband services), and the necessary resources to provide a government service that is reliable, trusted, expert, and available to citizens in their communities.

Please make tangible support for these vital E-government roles served by libraries explicit so that the American public will be better served by the proliferation of E-government services.